and check goods off at the other end.
So the problem was the other end
because they hadn't got enough indoor storage space
for, coal obviously didn't need it
but paraffin diesel had to be put under lock and key
otherwise German civilians
who were deprived of everything practically,
I mean it was still rubble in the streets.
As we flew in you could see piles of rubble,
twisted tramlines, things like that in the roads
and the infrastructure being completely destroyed
and not wholly replaced and that was the problem.
Because although there were huge blocks of flats
which were still occupied,
the central heating systems for those weren't operating
so we had to try and get those.
So the sidings at Gatow were full
of coal trucks, piles of coal.
And German civilians used to cut the perimeter fence
and go in with a sack and shovel and pinch coal.
You couldn't blame them because the winters
are pretty severe in that part.
